ECCLESIASTES Chapter 9 (GNB)
SERAPHIM
Home … BIBLE Page … OLD Testament
(GNB) … NEW Testament
(GNB)
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/1/eVerseID/1/version/GNB
|
9:1 I thought long
and hard about all this and saw that God controls the actions of wise and
righteous people, even their love and their hate. No one knows anything about
what lies ahead. |
|
9:2 It makes no
difference. The same fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good
and the bad, to those who are religious and those who are not, to those who
offer sacrifices and those who do not. A good person is no better off than a
sinner; one who takes an oath is no better off than one who does not. |
|
9:3 One fate comes
to all alike, and this is as wrong as anything that happens in this world. As
long as people live, their minds are full of evil and madness, and suddenly
they die. |
|
9:4 But anyone who
is alive in the world of the living has some hope; a live dog is better off
than a dead lion. |
|
9:5 Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know
nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. |
|
9:6 Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them.
They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world. |
|
9:7 Go ahead---eat
your food and be happy; drink your wine and be cheerful. It's all right with
God. |
|
9:8 Always look
happy and cheerful. |
|
9:9 Enjoy life with the one you love, as long as you live the
useless life that God has given you in this world. Enjoy every useless day of
it, because that is all you will get for all your trouble. |
|
9:10 Work hard at
whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge,
no wisdom in the world of the dead---and that is where you are going. |
|
9:11 I realized
another thing, that in this world fast runners do not always win the races, and the brave do not always win the battles. The
wise do not always earn a living, intelligent people do not always get rich,
and capable people do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to
everyone. |
|
9:12 You never know
when your time is coming. Like birds suddenly caught in a trap, like fish
caught in a net, we are trapped at some evil moment when we least expect it. |
|
9:13 There is
something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world.
|
|
9:14 There was a
little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He
surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls. |
|
9:15 Someone lived
there who was poor, but so clever that he could have saved the town. But no
one thought about him. |
|
9:16 I have always
said that wisdom is better than strength, but no one thinks of the poor as
wise or pays any attention to what they say. |
|
9:17 It is better
to listen to the quiet words of someone wise than to the shouts of a ruler at
a council of fools. |
|
9:18 Wisdom does
more good than weapons, but one sinner can undo a lot of good. |
CHAPTER
ENDS
SERAPHIM
Home … BIBLE Page … OLD Testament
(GNB) … NEW Testament
(GNB)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|